I have a christian friend, that I was trying to explain grounding too... how do you explain it?

Nice and tricky ...

I'd probably start with looking at a natural science analogy, probably electricity. When you're in need of grounding, you've built up a charge. Through the process of grounding, you're equalizing your charge and becoming more neutral with your environment.

Now, slide that into spiritual energy. Too much negative energy puts you into disharmony with the environment or attracts the wrong stuff to you. So, the grounding is there to calm you and make your life more harmonious.

Does that help?

If you need to have it in specifically Christian framework, playing with an analogy that involves possession by the Holy Spirit might be the way to go, but if you're not dealing with a Pentecostal who's experienced such religious exstacy, it might not work ...

Are they old-school "spare the rod" fundy? Well, grounding is a punishment whereas the privilege for the child to leave their domicile in order to have fun is removed. Thus keeping the child away from friends and outings, it discourages that child from doing bad things in the future.

Or are they "physics? what's that?" kind of fundy? In that case, grounding is the act whereby one secures and completes an electrical circuit. Wikipedia can probably explain it better than I can:

Quote:

In electrical engineering, the term ground or earth has several meanings depending on the specific application areas. Ground is the reference point in an electrical circuit from which other voltages are measured, a common return path for electrical current (earth return or ground return), or a direct physical connection to the Earth.

Electrical circuits may be connected to ground (earth) for several reasons. In power circuits, a connection to ground is done for safety purposes to protect people from the effects of faulty insulation on electrically powered equipment. A connection to ground helps limit the voltage built up between power circuits and the earth, protecting circuit insulation from damage due to excessive voltage. Connections to ground may be used to limit the build-up of static electricity when handling flammable products or when repairing electronic devices. In some types of telegraph and power transmission circuits, the earth itself can be used as one conductor of the circuit, saving the cost of installing a separate run of wire as a return conductor. For measurement purposes, the Earth serves as a (reasonably) constant potential reference against which other potentials can be measured. An electrical ground system should have an appropriate current-carrying capability in order to serve as an adequate zero-voltage reference level.

The use of the term ground (or earth) is so common in electrical and electronics applications that circuits in vehicles such as ships, aircraft, and spacecraft may be spoken of having a "ground" connection without any actual connection to the Earth.